Sequels. Many many movies have had a sequel. And most of them have done it poorly. I was worried that the trailer's promise that this movie was "better than the original" would fall short, as many sequels do. So I went in wanting an expectational movie, but expecting much less. I got the movie I wanted, not the one I thought I would get. It was the sophisticated, classy, fast paced, and witty movie it needed to be. Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) is sporadic, a little manic, and always brilliant. When things almost got out of hand, somehow he pulled it all into a plan that was either built, or one that fell into place by accident. Not once did it seem to be clunky. The plot moved nicely from point to point. Being a detective movie about one of the histories greatest detectives, Holmes' logic was sometimes hard to follow, but given a recap to the slightly slower Watson (Jude Law), things became clear.
Rated PG-13 with some blood, guns, some ladies with old-fashioned dresses, and no swearing. 2 hours and nine minutes was the perfect amount of time. At one point I thought it was almost over, that we had reached the climax. It was a teaser, and the next climax was for real and much better than the first. I only have one issue with the movie. The last 30 seconds was a shame. More on that in the comments, no spoiler here. Overall I was beyond pleased with the movie, and it was worth my time, and so it is worth your time. As for a 3rd in the series, who knows?